Unnecessary Developments – Page 5

France: Zad Activists Light Barricades, Vow Continued Resistance

September 24, 2014 – Barricades were lit on RN165 in response to the eviction of the Herbin family, from the village of Liminbout on the ZAD de Notre-Dame-Des-Landes to make way for construction of the airport project.

In a statement released by the Zad activist they declare “Each step of the project, each attack against the movement of struggle (work, trial, etc.), will bring an immediate response.

“Everything we have achieved so far, adding failure of the César operation until the suspension of the construction, was by a common determination of resistance and tactical diversity.

“All of these victories were also possible through actions of solidarity everywhere in france.”

They continue in the statement with a declaration of solidarity.

“It is our turn to be present at the side of the various struggles. Space and the autonomous political force gained by the ZAD have served to inspire and strengthen the revolt of those who do not fit in the row.

Thus, we support materially and morally people without paper from Nantes who, after being expelled from their place of life this summer, organize themselves to take up again recently. At Calais, facing the police and evictions in repetition, refugeess congregate. Without papers or airport, the ZAD is land of asylum.”

“We are wholeheartedly with the SEITA de Carquefou workers, reviving offensive practices (destruction of stocks, occupation of factory, sequestration) giving confidence to those who feel reduced to impotence by political parties and trade unions.

“In Picardy, the farmers opposed to the project of the factory farm of 1000 cows stated their position by blocking several days the arrival of the dairy.

“Bure, against the nuclear waste disposal centre, the struggle continues on the ground, and a campaign for action, Bure 365 is launched.

“On the ZAD of Testet plays a decisive moment for opponents to 16 dams. By our action, we wish to achieve the warm breath of Notre-Dame-Des-Landes to this struggle that crosses a turning point.”

Resistance moved to the internet with a list of hacked sites on the link in the tweet below.

Video here has English subtitles.

Wetlands destruction and resistance

#TESTET #ZAD

About an hour's drive north of Toulouse (sw France) there is an area of wetlands called the Testet, in the forest of #Sivens . This is the last area of wetlands ("Zone Humide" in French) in the department of the Tarn. It is home to rare and endangered species.

This area (13hectares) will be drowned by a dam. The purpose of the dam is principally to irrigate large-scale maize production.

It will also be used to regulate the levels of water in the river Tescou, so that pollution will be diluted and the local authorities can claim to respect European environment legislation. The water can also be used if difficulties arrive at the Golfech nuclear reactor.

Maize production is not appropriate to this region, it is a highly polluting form of agriculture. European and French rules say that it should no longer receive subsidies. (Dam financed by local, regional and European budgets)

The projected dam is not necessary, smaller, higher dams exist upstream, and are not used.

The studies of water availability and use, of the cost, impact and of the need for the dam are flawed and partial. (Local politicians who favour the project have interests in the company which produced the studies – which just happens to be the company which will pocket the money for building the dam….)

Claims about the need to dilute industrial pollution downstream are nonsense: the milk cooperative which used to pump effluent into the Tescou has had filters since 2006.

Environmentalists have been defending the wetlands for almost a year. Logging started on the 1st of september, the army and military police corps have commited acts of violence against non-violent protestors.

A hunger strike is in progress.

Hundreds of dam opponents are active on the site ( blocking roads, slowing the chainsaws, negociating and demonstrating). Other activists are demonstrating in front of local governement offices (and being savagely beaten for their efforts)

Calls for the public to show opposition to this unnecessary and destructive project are online.

Welcome groups exist for participants in direct action. The struggle is gradually growing, all and any help is needed. Sadly, at the time of writing the GIGN (special forces) are clearing resistance from the Zone.

Futher info:

http://collectif-testet.org/

http://tantquilyauradesbouilles.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SoutienTestet

Earth First! Summer Gathering 2014 – exact location & other practicalities added

Updates: Exact location has been releases – see here.

Travel – book your travel to Castle Cary or Bruton train station, then it's a bus journey and 20 minute walk.

Updates: Exact location has been releases – see here.

Travel – book your travel to Castle Cary or Bruton train station, then it's a bus journey and 20 minute walk.

Bus times are : 8.14am – 9.44am – 11.44am – 12.33pm – 2.14pm – 4.33pm (last bus). There's no Sunday service so we will timetable a shuttle bus to return.

Cycling: Bruton is better if you are cycling as it is a mile shorter, and there is also a bus from there too. The last bus from here leaves later. (Bus times from Bruton are: 9:09am – 10:39am – 12:12pm – 1:39pm – 3:54pm – 5:39pm)

We will post the exact address three weeks before the gathering.

Refreshments – ‘This year there is no bar on site. People are welcome to bring their own but we ask that there's no drinking before dinner/7pm. Anyone causing a nuisance or breaking our Safer Spaces policy will be asked to stop and/or leave. There will be a cafe & snack bar on site.’

Dogs – ‘This year dogs are welcome, but please get in touch in advance, and keep them on a lead at all times on the site.’ Further info

—————-

28th-31st August 2014, in the South West….

A place for people involved in radical green direct action to come together….
to talk….share skills….learn….listen….play….rant…. find out whats going on….
scheme….live outdoors….hang out….laugh….
experience non hierarchical, low impact, family friendly living.

An activist camp that spans 5 days and consists of a programme of workshops throughout each day facilitated by people like you and me who think they have a skill or a level of knowledge in a subject that is valuable to share with others to improve their activism.

Is this camp for you? Whether you're just starting out in the world of direct action or you're an old (glued and paint-stained) hand at it, you're welcome here.

More info here

Action dates & gatherings now working again!

The action dates and protest gatherings page is once again working! Apologies, we accidentally deleted it!

If there's any ecological actions that are openly advertised, protest camps or campaign gatherings, that you want to add to it, do it through the submit report link and in the subject, make it clear it's to add to the calendar. Thanks.

The action dates and protest gatherings page is once again working! Apologies, we accidentally deleted it!

Summary of Repression from ZAD

30th June Summary of arrests and trials since the demo in Nantes, February 22nd, according to information found by the anti-repression committee (CARILA)

February 22nd: 14 arrests, two released without charge. Of the 12 people charged, 5 had immediate trials the next day, and the 7 others will have trials later (3 on June 19th, 2 minors in children’s court, and no news for the 2 others).

February 24th: 5 immediate trials, 4 of them judged for “violence against someone with public authority”, and “participating in an armed group”. They were all convicted.
100 hours of community service
5 months suspended sentence
5 months of prison
5 months of prison and 1 month probation
6 months of prison and 6 months of probation + 500 euros for the undercover cops supposedly injured

Of all those convicted this day, no one went directly to prison. This means that they can negotiate a lighter sentence.

March 31st: First wave of arrests after the demo: 9 people were arrested at home (in Carquefou, St. Herblain, Nantes, and Ille-et-Vilaine).

2 were released without charges
4 were judged the next day in immediate trials
2 minors: one accused of throwing fireworks at the police judged in juvenile court, placed under house arrest until their trial in 2015, the other we don’t think they were charged but we have no confirmation
1 person had a trial later but we don’t have contact with them

April 1st: Immediate trials for those arrested the day before

P: 4 months suspended sentence, forbidden to carry weapons for a year, forbidden to protest in Notre Dame des Landes and Nantes for a year
J: 5 months of prison, forbidden to carry weapons for 2 years, forbidden to protest in Nantes for 2 years
G: 2 months suspended sentence + 2 months prison (suspended sentence from last arrest), aquitted for vandalism
E: 1 year of prison, starting immediately after the trial, forbidden to protest for 3 years, forbidden to have explosives or flammable materials for 3 years. The judge doubled the sentence that the DA asked for!

May 14th: G arrested in Paris under a warrant for vandalism February 22nd. He refused an immediate trial, fuzzy photos were the only evidence. He was placed in preventative detention, but got out a month later because of a procedural error. His trial is July 16th.

May 27th: R. arrested in the street in Rennes by undercover cops, transferred to Nantes. He refused immediate trial, and was put under house arrest, and forbidden from the Loire-Atlantique region until his trial, June 19th.

June 13th: Additional trial for someone convicted February 24th to decide how much they should pay in damages to the undercover cops. No information on the verdict for the moment.

June 18th:
O. arrested at home in Rennes, accused of vandalism, he has an immediate trial the next day.
Someone from the ZAD arrested in Nantes, who had a warrant out for violence against the police and participating in an armed group.

June 19th:
Trial for 3 people arrested during the demo -K: convicted of throwing paving stones towards the police and arrested in possession of a hammer and an iron bar, 4 months suspended sentence, 18 months probation (forced to find a job or go to vocational school, and forbidden to carry weapons) + 105 hours of community service -C: convicted of participation in an armed group and throwing a beer can at the police, sentenced to 2 months suspended sentence -G: arrested in possession of a hammer, sentenced to 1 month suspended sentence
Hearing for O. (arrested in Rennes the day before): he refuses his trial and is put under house arrest until his trial, July 10th
Trial of R. (arrested in Rennes, May 27) for vandalism and participating in an armed group. Sentenced to 8 months suspended sentence + 1 month suspended sentence + 5218 euros in damages for the city of Nantes+ forbidden from Loire-Atlantique region for 2 years.
Hearing for 5 people arrested 2 days before by undercover cops while driving: -one person (a hitch-hiker) accepted the immediate trial, convicted to possession of 1 gram of hash + refusing fingerprints and DNA. No sentence 3 people refused immediate trials and are put under house arrest until their trial, July 18th 1 person refused an immediate trial and is in prison awaiting trial (July 18th)

“They were arrested tuesday after a “random” identity control by undercover cops on the ring road in Nantes. Amoung them was R., who had a trial Thursday and was on their way to Nantes to see their lawyer with their friends. After 48 hours of police custody, 4 of them were charged with “possession of stolen goods”, suspected of having stolen… a head lamp. Also they refused to give fingerprints and DNA. More seriously, they are accused, based on some flyers in their car and a toolbox, of “association of wrong-doers”, and “intent to commit an armed assembly in front of the courthouse in Nantes”. They risk up to 5 years in prison.”

June 20th: Hearing for S., who lives on the ZAD. He was arrested 2 days before in Orvault, accused of having stolen 2 books. He had a warrant out for participating in the February 22nd demo. He is accused of theft (with prior convictions), refusing fingerprints and DNA (with prior convictions), and participating with a weapon in an armed group, and violence against the police. He refused an immediate trial and has been put in jail awaiting his trial on July 7th.

2 people are currently in preventative detention, awaiting trial.

Blockade Halts Old-Growth Logging in Mattole Forest

30th June A forest defender has taken to the trees to defend an important area of the Mattole Riv

30th June A forest defender has taken to the trees to defend an important area of the Mattole River watershed in Northern California. Going by the name “Skunk,” the blockader is stopping the construction of a new logging road into old-growth forest.

Skunk is supported by residents of Humboldt county and allies who have worked for months to stop Humboldt Redwood Company’s plan for 1,000 acres of logging in the Mattole Forest.

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In April, activists hung a banner across from Humboldt Redwoods State Park to protest the logging in the Mattole.

While Humboldt Redwood Company claims they are not logging old-growth, their definition restricts logging only areas with more than 8 old-growth trees in the span of an acre. They also define old-growth as existing in the year 1800, cutting out any trees younger than exactly 214 years.

Skunk insists, “Our main demands to Humboldt Redwood Company are very simple—don’t cut unlogged forest, and don’t cut old-growth. This road threatens to destroy forest that has never been logged before, and will pave the way for logging even more important habitat if the community does not rise up to stop it.”

The Mattole provides shelter to Golden Eagles and Spotted Owls, among other rare species, and has long been the home of old-growth Big Leaf Maple, Douglas Fir, Tanoak, and Madrone.

This area of Northern California has a long history of forest defense against Maxxam/Pacific Lumber throughout the 1990s. What we are perhaps seeing is just the beginning of a new chapter.

Karawang Farmers Defend Land From Corporate Eviction

28th June About 1200 peasant farmers of the village of Karawang, Indonesia prepared to defend 350 hectares of farm lands that they have tended and survived off of for generations.

28th June About 1200 peasant farmers of the village of Karawang, Indonesia prepared to defend 350 hectares of farm lands that they have tended and survived off of for generations. The land in dispute has been designated by local Indonesian government for the expansion of a factory owned by Agung Podomoro and the people of Karawang seem to have no recourse except to resist.

On Tuesday the 24th, about 7000 fully equipped riot police forces descended on the village with two water cannon vehicles to enforce the land ruling. The local residents had prepared tire barricades and hand weapons yet tried first to non-violently resist the encroaching forces.

This agrarian conflict has led to the eviction of the 1,200 residents. It has become evident that the country is in favor to the owners of capital and indifferent to ordinary people, such as farmers. The proof is the verdict of PK No. 160 PK/PDT/2011 designating the Primary Water Source (PT SAMP) on land owned by residents of three villages in the District Telukjambe.

Based on the decision of the PT SAMP the land has been purchased by the Agung Podomoro group and Falkirk District Court forced the eviction on June 24, 2014, requiring 7,000 riot forces.

Results of the incident reported by the Consortium for Agrarian Reform there were 10 workers who were assaulted and one farmer who was shot by riot police and there are 13 people who were arrested.

The pitch today is still tense as Riot police have set up command posts in ditiga, Margamulya and Wanasari Wanakerta villiages. They also put up a barbed wire fence in the conflict area, covering an area of 350 ha. Currently electricity have been cut into the homes of residents who inhabit the land dispute.

So far there has been no response or attempts to provide temporary housing by the eviction company. But officials Falkirk Farmers Union (patch) said that the residents will survive even if the company and Riot police eviction use heavy equipment.

The Karawang people demand:
1. Stop the displacement towards the peasants mandated by state court of Karawang since the land has been plowed and owned legally by the peasants who pay taxes regularly and obediently to the states for tens of years.
2. Pull seven thousands armed mobile brigade back from agrarian conflict area in Karawang because they intimidate and provoke the people.
3. Solidarity from all Indonesians and comrades in struggle who supports the agrarian reform to condemn the injustice suffered by the peasants.

Villager Wins Court Battle Against Hydroelectric Plant Construction

26th June An administrative court in the Black Sea province of Rize has ruled to halt the construction of a hydroelectric power plant (

26th June An administrative court in the Black Sea province of Rize has ruled to halt the construction of a hydroelectric power plant (HES) that was being built on the Andon River, which provides fresh water to at least 3,000 people in the village of Küçükçayır.

Küçükçayır village was declared an environmentally protected site in 2011. The village’s residents held a protest in February against a HES being constructed near the river, closing the main road of the village for hours as part of their protest and not allowing construction equipment to operate at the site.

According to a Cihan news agency report on Wednesday, Kezım Delal, one of the villagers, sold a cow and took a loan from a bank in order to file a lawsuit against the construction company. Emphasizing that he has been struggling in court against the construction plan, which is likely to harm the environment, Delal said the injunction to halt construction stands as an important step towards protecting the environment from other upcoming power plant construction projects that might destroy the country’s natural beauty.

“I have been living in this village for 70 years. I was born here. This is my home. I am so happy that court ruled in favor of our future. Now, I just want to see the construction company leave us alone right away,” he told the press.

Emphasizing that they have been keeping watch for almost eight months in order to prevent the construction company from doing any damage, Delal thanked all his friends who did not leave his side during the protest. “This victory belongs to all of us. Now we can move on with our lives,” he added.

Stating that they were taken into custody by gendarmes many times due to the their protests, Yusuf Esir, another villager, said that he was happy to take a stand against the construction plans. “In order to intimidate us, gendarmes took us into custody many times. But nobody can deter us. If anybody should leave this village, it’s the construction company, not us. Because this is our village,” Esir stated.

Three More Vehicles Sabotaged in Italy’s No TAV Struggle

14th June We receive from anonymous mail and transmit:

“Genoa—In the night of 3rd June 2 excavators and 1 concrete mixer were sabotaged at the Terzo Valico Erzelli yard.

To stop it is up to us

To stop it is possible

Let’s sabotage everything

No TAV Terzo Valico”

14th June We receive from anonymous mail and transmit:

“Genoa—In the night of 3rd June 2 excavators and 1 concrete mixer were sabotaged at the Terzo Valico Erzelli yard.

To stop it is up to us

To stop it is possible

Let’s sabotage everything

No TAV Terzo Valico”

[See this article for more info on the No TAV movement]

Patagonia Dam CANCELED!

chao hidroaysen 13th June After an eight-year struggle, Chile’s grassroots and environmental movements have successfully won the rejection of five planned megadams on two Patagonian rivers!

It’s not every day we celebrate a victory as significant and hard-won as today’s triumph in the eight-year campaign to protect Chilean Patagonia from the destructive HidroAysén dam project!

This morning, Chile’s highest administrative authority – the Committee of Ministers – made a unanimous decision to overturn the environmental permits for the controversial five dam mega-project, which was planned on the Baker and Pascua rivers. This highly anticipated resolution effectively cancels the project, ruling that assessment of the project’s impacts was insufficient to grant project approval back in 2011.

The Committee, which consists of the Minister of Environment, Health, Economy, Energy and Mining, Agriculture, and Tourism, evaluated 35 appeals which were filed by the Patagonia Defense Council and local citizens in response to the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment after it was approved in May 2011. Though it has taken more than three years, with meetings and decisions being repeatedly delayed and eventually passed on to the new administration, today’s decision is a recognition of the technical and procedural flaws surrounding HidroAysén as well as the significant impacts the project would have had on one of Chile’s most iconic regions.

What began as a grassroots effort to protect the pristine Baker and Pascua rivers, and the communities and culture of Patagonia, has developed into a fully-fledged international campaign and galvanized a national environmental movement. Over the past four years Chileans have taken to the streets to demand a halt to HidroAysén and around the world an international community has rallied around this call. Today it is these voices that have won out, and together have set in motion a new path towards a bright future for Patagonia and the hope of a truly sustainable energy future for Chile.

Pascua River, Patagonia: Undammed!

To borrow some words from Patricio Rodrigo, Executive Secretary of the Patagonia Defense Council, “The government’s definitive rejection of the HidroAysén project is not only the greatest triumph of the environmental movement in Chile, but marks a turning point, where an empowered public demands to be heard and to participate in the decisions that affect their environment and lives.”

We are thrilled that the government is siding with the majority of Chileans and tens of thousands of people around the world to say no to HidroAysén! We commend President Bachelet for remaining loyal to her campaign promise that HidroAysén would not have her support. And we are looking to the future, with the hope that measures will be put in place to protect this unique region from future threats. (In fact, President Bachelet and the Minister of Environment recently formalized a bill that would create the Department of Biodiversity and Protected Areas (SBAP) with the aim to preserve critical ecosystems throughout Chile.)